Croque Madame au Champignon

French bistro breakfast food!
  
     I had a very nice Classic Croque-Madame in Las Vegas last week for breakfast at Payard in Caesars Palace.  It had been years since I have cooked a croque.  In fact, I completely forgot about this wonderful sandwich.  I used to make croque sandwiches in a couple of French cafes in Florida.
     The difference between a croque madame and a croque monsieur is the croque madame has bechamel sauce spread over the top of the sandwich with a sprinkle of cheese, then it is baked crisp.  A croque madame also has a fried egg on top.  A croque sandwich is supposed to be baked brown and crisp.  Croque translates to the word crunch!
     There are many variations of croque sandwiches.  For this breakfast croque madame, mushrooms take the place of the ham.  I infused the bechamel sauce with white truffle oil to add a very rich tasting mushroom flavor.  The mushroom on the sandwich is a roasted large mature portabella mushroom.  The flavor combination of white truffle and portabella on this sandwich is very nice for breakfast!
  
     White Truffle Oil Infused Bechamel Sauce:
     This recipe makes enough sauce for 2 sandwiches!
     Heat a sauce pot over medium heat.
     Add 3 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add an equal amount of flour, while constantly stirring, to form a roux.  Stir the roux constantly till the roux become white in color.
     Add 1 1/3 cups of milk while stirring.
     Whisk the sauce, till it starts to simmer and thicken to a very thin sauce consistency.
     Reduce the temperature to low heat.
     Add sea salt and white pepper.
     Add 1 tiny pinch of nutmeg.
     Add 1/2 of a clove.
     Add 1 tablespoon of minced onion.
     Add 1/2 tablespoon of white truffle oil while stirring.
     Simmer and reduce the sauce, till it becomes a medium thin cream sauce consistency.
     Pour the sauce through a strainer into a second sauce pot.
     Keep the sauce warm over very low heat.  Add milk if the sauce becomes too thick.
  
     Roasted Portabella:
     Pop the stem off of 1 large mature portabella mushroom.  The mushroom should be 5"to 6" wide.
     Carefully and gently scrape the gills off of the mushroom with a spoon.
     Peel the mushroom cap.  (optional)
     Brush the portabella lightly with olive oil.
     Season the portabella with sea salt and black pepper.
     Place the portabella on a roasting pan.
     Bake the portabella in a 325º degree oven, till it becomes tender.
     Remove the roasted portabella from the oven and set it on a cutting board.
     Cut the roasted portabella into thin slices.
    
     Croque Madame au Champignon:
     The baked tomato can be cooked at the same time!
     Heat a saute pan or griddle over medium/medium low heat.
     Brush 2 slices of whole grain wheat bread with unsalted butter.
     Place the bread slices in the hot pan.
     Place a few thin slices of gruyere cheese or swiss emmentaler cheese on the bread.
     Place the portabella slices on one of the bread slices.
     Drizzle a little bit of white truffle oil over the sliced portabella on the sandwich.
     When the sandwich becomes toasted to a light brown color, flip the plain cheese half of the sandwich on top of the mushroom half of the sandwich.
     Remove the sandwich from the pan.
     Place a wire screen roasting rack on a roastin pan.
     Place the grilled sandwich on the roasting rack.
     Spread a layer of the white truffle flavored bechamel sauce on top of the sandwich.
     Sprinkle a little bit of grated gruyere cheese or grated swiss emmentaler cheese on top of the bechamel sauce.
     Bake the sandwich in a 350º degree oven, till the bechamel sauce and cheese caramelizes to a light brown color and till the sandwich becomes crisp.  (About 10-15 minutes.)
     Place the croque madame au champignon on a plate and keep it warm on a stove top.
     Heat a non-stick saute pan over medium low heat.
     Add 1 pat of unsalted butter.
     Add 1 egg.
     Cook the egg sunny side up.
     Season the egg with sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper.
     Place the sunny side up egg on top of the croque madame.
     Garnish the plate with a parsley sprig and baked tomato.
  
     Baked Tomato:
     The tomato can be baked in the oven at the same time that the sandwich is baking.
     Cut the top and bottom off of 1 plum tomato and set it on a baking pan.
     Season the tomato with sea salt, black pepper.
     Sprinkle 1 pinch of dill weed on the tomato.
     Sprinkle some bread crumbs on top of the tomato.
     Place 1 pat of unsalted butter on top of the tomato.
     Bake the tomato in a 350º degree oven, till it becomes tender.
     Use a spatula to set the baked tomato on the plate.
   
     The white truffle oil really adds a nice flavor to this croque madame!  The meaty portabella mushroom is a pleasant breakfast flavor.  This croque madame is crunchy on the outside and moist in the middle.  This is a classic French breakfast croque madame that is full of rich mushroom flavor!  ...  Shawna